Supernatural S10 Finale: Thoughts on Brother’s Keeper
Warning: SPOILERS AHOY
Let me be blunt: the S10 season finale was a disappointment, not only in terms of what it gave us - wasted characterisation, the last-minute introduction of a drastic change to an established mythology, borked scene transitions - but because of what it didn’t. As of the finale, Metatron is still roaming free with the demon tablet, we’ve had no visual confirmation of Cain’s death, the First Blade has apparently been forgotten, Cole has left the story, and Crowley’s sudden resurgence of evil in the penultimate episode was apparently forgotten, the better to excuse him helping the Winchesters one last time. It’s a mess of dropped narrative threads and missed opportunities, and given how cohesive the first nine episodes were, both thematically and in terms of content, the events of the finale make me think that the later half of S10 is a camel.
Specifically: I think that, when Supernatural was renewed for S11 in January 2015 - which appears to be the earliest renewal date the show has ever had - the need to plan for an unexpected new season threw off the intended arc and endgame for S10. As best I can make out, Halt & Catch Fire (10.13) filmed in early December 2014, with The Executioner’s Song (10.14) also filming that month, although neither episode aired until February 2015 - meaning, in essence, that if production broke over Christmas and New Years, and given that the second half of the season appears to have filmed (as best I can tell) from February onwards, then the earliest episode to be plausibly impacted by the January 11 renewal is The Things They Carried (10.15), which aired on March 18.
All of which says to me that, whatever was planned for the S10 finale prior to January this year, that plan was presumably altered in a very short space of time, the better to lead into S11, and while some aspects remained the same, the biggest plot points were the ones most affected.
In fact, on the basis of what’s missing from the finale, here’s how I think the second half S10 was originally meant to go (or how, at least, it should have gone):
- The Stynes were a last-minute addition to the narrative whose presence wasn’t originally planned. As such, the Book of the Damned was introduced as a stand-in for the demon tablet, which would have been a more natural source for a potential cure, given that it was originally mentioned as one in The Hunter Games (10.10), but only revealed to contain no answers after the S11 renewal date, as per Metatron’s statement in The Inside Man (10.17). As such, the events of 10.18 would have been very different: instead of Charlie bringing them the Book and the two narratives being split, Sam would have been there when Metatron took Cas to find his grace, and would have reclaimed the demon tablet, too - though Metatron would still have escaped.
- Free again and in need of allies, Metatron would have stolen another angel’s grace and then gone to Crowley, neatly stepping into the role vacated by Rowena. This would have been an intriguing, fascinating, antagonistic alliance to explore, given the extent to which both characters mirror each other: Crowley covets and envies Dean in the same way Metatron covets and envies Castiel; both have tried and failed to remake their respective domains - Heaven and Hell - into something different; and both have very similar reasons for wanting to regain control of the Winchesters.
- Sam would have enlisted Charlie to try and decipher the demon tablet, but Dean would have felt a pull to it and wanted it gone, stating that there was no point trying to read it anyway without Kevin’s notes, which Crowley still has. They would try to trade for the notes, but Crowley would decline because of his alliance with Metatron. This is when Sam and Charlie would discuss finding a witch - Rowena - to combine her magical expertise with Charlie’s codebreaking skills to crack the tablet.
- This being so, Sam would have enlisted Cole to help stand guard over Rowena while she worked: not only would this have left Castiel free to go off with Charlie when she had an idea about the tablet that she didn’t want Rowena to overhear, but Cole would also have been plausibly vulnerable to Rowena’s manipulations in their absence. Instead of Charlie’s death, she and Castiel could have tracked down Linda Tran and contacted Kevin Tran’s ghost and asked him to read the tablet for them. Kevin would do this as a cathartic act that finally lets him move on to Heaven, but not before revealing that Metatron’s previous statement that “the river ends at the source” refers to the river which flows from Eden and which - according to the tablet - ends in Hell. (Because mixing the four Biblical rivers of Eden with the rivers of the underworld from Greek mythology would be awesome, that’s why. SHUT UP, LET ME HAVE THIS ONE.) Waters from said river/s would be a material component in the spell needed to remove the Mark - as, indeed, would Metatron’s grace.
- Meanwhile, Rowena would put Cole under her control, but without anyone being aware of it. As such, The Werther Project (10.19) would be largely unchanged, except that they’d be looking for a different MacGuffin than Rowena’s codex - an ingredient needed for the spell, rather, like the fruit of knowledge. Angel Heart (10.20) would similarly remain the same, except that the angel Tamiel would have information about a spell ingredient they thought was inaccessible.
- Because of these changes, Dark Dynasty (10.21) would be jointly about Crowley and Metatron’s efforts to use Kevin’s demon tablet notes to figure out how to control the person wearing the Mark, and about Dean’s steadily disintegrating mental state. This would involve Castiel and Sam looking for spell ingredients and at least one conversation between Dean and Cole, wherein the latter (guided by Rowena) would try to persuade Dean that his situation was hopeless, and that there were no good options left. The emotional climax would be, not Charlie’s death, but Dean failing to save an innocent during a supposedly simple monster of the week case - undertaken to try and prove Cole wrong - because, in a mirror for Cole’s pessimism, the situation left him no good choices. This would be the event that tipped him over the edge.
- In The Prisoner (10.22), Dean would give up and lash out, killing random criminal humans instead of the Stynes, echoing his violence towards Claire’s assailants in The Things We Left Behind (10.09) and the moral concerns it evoked, culminating in the same murder of a young, comparatively innocent accomplice. Rowena would be nearing completion on the spell, while Metatron and Crowley would debate involving Lucifer to gain control of the Mark. At Rowena’s urging, Cole would pick a fight with Sam and leave, the better to work her agenda elsewhere. Castiel and Dean would still fight, and Dean would still walk away.
- Everything would then come together in Brother’s Keeper (10.23). For the last spell ingredient, Sam would once again call Crowley for help; but this time, Crowley would agree to come. However, he wouldn’t show up until after Sam had left to look for Dean, and Metatron would be with him, wanting to reclaim his grace. He would trade Rowena his stolen grace to use in the spell in exchange for his own, and a tense, four-way standoff/argument/fight would ensue: only Rowena can perform the spell, Crowley and Metatron both want her to alter it to give them control over Dean and the Mark, but are simultaneously refusing to share power; Castiel doesn’t have any backup, but wants to take out Metatron, and whatever choice Rowena makes, she’ll risk whoever she disappoints allying against her. However, she has a card up her sleeve: Cole.
- Meanwhile, Dean isn’t on a monster of the week case; instead, he’s gone straight to summoning Death. There’s no revelation about the Darkness: instead, Death simply states that he can’t kill Dean or remove the Mark outright, mentioning that Rowena’s spell is only going to relocate the Mark to someone of the caster’s choosing, over whom they’d then have control. Horrified that this plan has still been happening behind his back, Dean realises what Rowena’s been trying to do all along, but before he can warn anyone, Sam arrives. This, Death says, he can work with: the Mark came into being when Cain killed his brother to save him, and so can be dispelled by a similar brotherly sacrifice. If Sam is willing to let Dean kill him with the First Blade, then the curse will be fulfilled - with Death’s guidance, as he was there for Abel’s death, and is the only one who can close the circuit - and the Mark can be removed. This is the source of the dramatic argument between the brothers: Sam isn’t initially willing to die, but Dean is willing to kill him if it means he can die afterwards, too, and be done. Sam eventually agrees, and they decide to call Castiel to ask where the First Blade is; at which point, Cole enters, banishes Death (with Rowena’s magic) and reveals that he has the First Blade, stolen on Rowena’s instructions from Castiel’s hiding place.
- Cut back to the others: Metatron and Cas are fighting, and while they’re distracted, Rowena paralyzes Crowley and starts the spell. Cole shoots Sam and engages Dean, who gets the First Blade and stabs him with it - just as Cole grabs Dean’s arm, his ‘Strength to Change’ tattoo mirroring the Mark, and bucks as Rowena’s spell goes through him. The Mark transfers from Dean to Cole, who stands up, shoots Dean, removes the First Blade from his own stomach, and leaves the Winchesters to bleed out as he goes to answer Rowena’s summons. Rowena, meanwhile, uses the magical strength she’s taking from her connection with Cole to kill Crowley, then uses an Enochian sigil to banish both Metatron and Castiel. The last thing we see is Cain walking into the room where the Winchesters are dying; he looks at Dean and says, “You really should have killed me.” End episode; end season.
Regardless of whether or not my preferred version of events has any similarity to what was originally planned, I do believe that the show’s renewal had a serious impact on the last few episodes of the season and the finale in particular, which combined with the show’s famously broken creative base to screw things up. I’m still going to watch S11, because at this point, I’m too invested to quit, but yeah: I’m supremely disappointed that a season which began so strongly - and which engaged in such a compelling thematic arc about misogyny, monstrousness and the links between the two - fizzled out into what is arguably the least cathartic finale of any Supernatural season.
visenyathedarksister liked this
cyborgtopus liked this
brah3280 liked this
sflor018 liked this
fancyfranzi reblogged this from compassionatedragon
siriusly-hamilton liked this
compassionatedragon reblogged this from fozmeadows
destihellhound liked this
compassionatedragon liked this
fairtradehoney liked this
fu-fucker liked this
ilikebeesandflowers reblogged this from fozmeadows anhedoniacally liked this
em-ok liked this
shipperfiendobssesser liked this
beanmom reblogged this from fozmeadows obsessionisaperfume liked this
starborndean liked this
warvscreation liked this
indigofern reblogged this from fozmeadows
indigofern liked this littlehollyleaf liked this
fo-cus liked this
acidburn42 liked this
fangirltrashcanlife reblogged this from fozmeadows
firefly124 reblogged this from fozmeadows fibonaccisequins-blog liked this
listhegoblinlady reblogged this from fozmeadows percydoesthething reblogged this from fozmeadows
i-am-a-capn reblogged this from fozmeadows windmillcrusader liked this
firefly124 liked this ephemeralcastiel liked this
wang78739 liked this akf-padackles liked this
cheshirejen liked this
mishacollinsismyhappyplace liked this
metsarosvo reblogged this from fozmeadows dreamingincabeswater liked this
old-them-jj liked this yearsagoindaysofold reblogged this from fozmeadows
randomfandomshit liked this
greekedtext liked this
shansmousey liked this
readmachine liked this fozmeadows posted this
- Show more notes